East Of Eden

Chapter 18

I watch Amy intently as I drive to my house. Her expression of the spring trees leaning graciously over into the smooth dirt road is thrilling. I roll the windows down and she jumps at the surprise. She rests her head at the edge of the opening and closes her eyes. The smell of the pine and oak trees fills the my truck and the music plays gently. "It's so beautiful here." she admits. "I know it is." I smile. "We've been driving for a long time." She points out. "Yeah my house is kind of far." I tell her. She nods her head and continues to look out the window and at the beautiful scenery.

We pull up to my house with in some time and Amy gasps at the property. We walk onto the porch and I hold the paper bag filled with fruit. I need to go back to the farmers market sometime to get the rest of the groceries. I unlock the door and open it wide for both of our entrances. We settle in the kitchen and I start to unload the groceries and put them in the appropriate place. "This is your house?" Amy asks as her eyes go around the whole place. "Yeah." I confirm and pull my hair to the back of my ear. "How?" Amy asks. "I came into some money." I lick my bottom lip. "What money, Holly?" She continues her questionary. "I won the lottery. I don't need to lie anymore." I admit. "You won the lottery? Oh my God! How much?" She shoots. "Yeah, $10 million." I answer. "$10 million?!" She shouts. I just nod my head. By now I'm used to the reaction. "Oh my God." She whispers. "Tell me why you left. Tell me everything." I say, "Okay." Ready to tell her everything. "Amy, I was unhappy. Not just everything with Nathan, but my parents and Eric, Jenna, school. Just my life in general." I start. She just stays quiet and listens intently. "I've always dreamed of this." I beckon to showcase the house we're in. "I've always dreamed of living in a big beautiful house like this in a green forest small town. I know that people usually want to have a beach house in California, but this is what I want." I continue. "The day I left, I went to the corner store to buy some coffee. I woke up more down that morning than usual. When I was at the cash register I looked at the sign for the Texas Lottery. I thought what an amazing life I could live with $10 million. So I bought a ticket. Well I bought two. I went to school and one of the tickets was the lucky one. So I went back to my house and I packed. When I came to school to say goodbye to you guys and Nathan...." I drift off to hold onto myself. Amy has tear running down her cheek. "You left. We made you leave." She tells me. "No, it wasn't you, it was Nathan. He asked out Jozlyn in front of me and that was it for me." I say.

Amy's Point Of View

The guilt inside me is hard to contain. I want to tell her the truth about Jozlyn and Nathan and everything. I just start with the fact that I knew. "Holly." I interrupt. "What?" She asks. I take a deep breath and rub my lips together. I blurt it out, "I knew that Nathan was going to ask out Jozlyn at the pep rally." She snaps her head up and furrows her eyebrows at me. "What?" She says quietly. My cheeks start to feel hot and guilt bursts throughout my veins. "I knew." I choke trying not to cry. "You knew.. that Nathan was... going to.. ask out her at the pep rally?" She asks for confirmation. I just nod my head. "Oh my God." She lets a breath escape. She puts her head on her forehead. Tears are falling down her cheeks. She looks at me with wide and angry eyes and clenches her teeth. "Why didn't you tell me?" "Because... I barely found out that day. I didn't have time to tell you the right way." I lie.

Holly's Point Of View

I can't believe that Amy knew this whole time. The disappointment and betrayal fills me on the inside-out. "I'm sorry." Is all she says. I don't want to forgive that easily, but if Amy would have told me before, who knows what would have happen. I probably wouldn't have met Kaleb, or made it to Hamdem. If she told that morning I'll probably wouldn't have gone to school, not have gone to the corner store to get coffee and not have gotten a ticket to lottery. I wouldn't have have won and I wouldn't have left. Everything happens for a reason. I wouldn't have this perfect life if everything didn't go the way it did. And just like that my anger dissolves and I say, "It's okay." She is surprised by my easy-given forgiveness. She looks away from my such kind mercy. "If it weren't for everything the way it happened, I wouldn't have met Kaleb."  I add.